What do you think?
Rate this book
Creating Healthy Children
Creating Healthy Children is an empowering transformational book that will profoundly improve your family’s physical, emotional, mental and spiritual wellbeing. In this book, Karen Ranzi guides you on the path to creating happy and healthy children, confident of their disease-free future. Rather than medicate your child’s diseases, infections, and learning difficulties, Karen’s unique and proven approach simply eliminates the causes of health and weight problems through the healthful raw food lifestyle. She conveys the understanding of your child’s biological need to obtain optimal nourishment—implementing healthful choices from pregnancy on. Karen also emphasizes fulfilling your child’s emotional needs by adhering to attachment parenting
principles throughout the growing years.
principles throughout the growing years.
496 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2010
8 people are currently reading
78 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
July 4, 2017
This is one of those books that seems to take an eternity to finish -- not because it is not interesting, but because it is so full of information.
I was not sure what to expect when I first started the book. I am a firm believer in Attachment Parenting, but I could never be called a raw food enthusiast. I lean towards a vegetarian (often vegan), organic, all natural diet, but it is generally cooked and I had no desire to change that.
That said, I found the book fascinating, informative and incredibly well researched, and have already made small changes in my food choices and my family's. I do not intend to switch to a completely raw food diet, but Ranzi makes it clear that I don't have to in order to still see some benefits of raw foods.
Subjects included in the nearly 500-page book include: The health of the parents before conception, home birth, circumcision, diet during pregnancy, the B12 question, breastfeeding, the importance of skin-to-skin contact, co-sleeping, feeding baby uncooked foods, teaching children how to eat, personal care products for children, children's exercise and ventilation, transitioning children to raw foods, kid-tested recipes, Essential Fatty Acids, vitamins and minerals, eliminating causes of illnesses, water needs, genetic engineering, homeschooling, nonviolent communication with children, vaccinations, dental health, vision health, the importance of the sun, questions from parents, stories of raw families and their journeys and more.
When I first began reading, I have to admit to feeling rather overwhelmed and depressed. Ranzi lists so many health risks that adopting her lifestyle may seem impossible to some (and this is coming from someone who already makes a concerted effort to live a healthy lifestyle). From the chlorine in your shower water to the toxic molds in peanut butter, it can seem that nothing is safe.
By the time I finished the book, however, I had put those elements in perspective. I now feel more educated and empowered, and see that information as simply knowledge and perspectives to use as I see fit.
As parents, we tend to accumulate vast amounts of information on our journeys. We research, we ask questions, we learn from our own mistakes and we eventually emerge with so much wisdom to pass on. With this book, I feel that Karen Ranzi has gathered all the knowledge of her own parenting and health journeys in one place for those beginning their own.
The book is incredibly well researched and Ranzi quotes her sources extensively. In the chapter about B12, for instance, she tells all perspectives and lists so many studies that I felt as if I could pass a test by the time I finished it. The chapter about circumcision is twelve pages long and includes a personal story of a mother who became an anti-circumcision activist and two full pages of books, websites, videos, organizations and other resources on the subject.
Karen Ranzi shares her knowledge and beliefs without concern for whether people see her as a radical or disagree. The book is not watered down in an attempt to please every reader or avoid ruffling feathers. Ranzi quite simply shares what she believes is best for children, from breastfeeding to avoiding vaccination to choosing organic foods, and why.
Ranzi also talks about common pitfalls of raw food diets, such as relying too heavily on dried fruits (which harm the teeth) and nuts (which are high in fat and not necessary in large quantities).
When I began reading this book, my then-twelve-year-old daughter decided to begin eating raw. In the past, I might have worried about her protein intake, vitamin needs and other issues. Armed with Creating Healthy Children, I felt completely comfortable with her decision and was able to help her choose good foods and prepare simple recipes (Ranzi's recipes do tend to be very simple indeed since she advocates consuming whole fresh foods most of the time).
I highly recommend this book and plan to keep it in my personal collection. I am still not ready to switch to an all-raw diet, but I have been serving more salads, smoothies and fresh fruits for snacks and meals. Who knows what the future may hold.
I was not sure what to expect when I first started the book. I am a firm believer in Attachment Parenting, but I could never be called a raw food enthusiast. I lean towards a vegetarian (often vegan), organic, all natural diet, but it is generally cooked and I had no desire to change that.
That said, I found the book fascinating, informative and incredibly well researched, and have already made small changes in my food choices and my family's. I do not intend to switch to a completely raw food diet, but Ranzi makes it clear that I don't have to in order to still see some benefits of raw foods.
Subjects included in the nearly 500-page book include: The health of the parents before conception, home birth, circumcision, diet during pregnancy, the B12 question, breastfeeding, the importance of skin-to-skin contact, co-sleeping, feeding baby uncooked foods, teaching children how to eat, personal care products for children, children's exercise and ventilation, transitioning children to raw foods, kid-tested recipes, Essential Fatty Acids, vitamins and minerals, eliminating causes of illnesses, water needs, genetic engineering, homeschooling, nonviolent communication with children, vaccinations, dental health, vision health, the importance of the sun, questions from parents, stories of raw families and their journeys and more.
When I first began reading, I have to admit to feeling rather overwhelmed and depressed. Ranzi lists so many health risks that adopting her lifestyle may seem impossible to some (and this is coming from someone who already makes a concerted effort to live a healthy lifestyle). From the chlorine in your shower water to the toxic molds in peanut butter, it can seem that nothing is safe.
By the time I finished the book, however, I had put those elements in perspective. I now feel more educated and empowered, and see that information as simply knowledge and perspectives to use as I see fit.
As parents, we tend to accumulate vast amounts of information on our journeys. We research, we ask questions, we learn from our own mistakes and we eventually emerge with so much wisdom to pass on. With this book, I feel that Karen Ranzi has gathered all the knowledge of her own parenting and health journeys in one place for those beginning their own.
The book is incredibly well researched and Ranzi quotes her sources extensively. In the chapter about B12, for instance, she tells all perspectives and lists so many studies that I felt as if I could pass a test by the time I finished it. The chapter about circumcision is twelve pages long and includes a personal story of a mother who became an anti-circumcision activist and two full pages of books, websites, videos, organizations and other resources on the subject.
Karen Ranzi shares her knowledge and beliefs without concern for whether people see her as a radical or disagree. The book is not watered down in an attempt to please every reader or avoid ruffling feathers. Ranzi quite simply shares what she believes is best for children, from breastfeeding to avoiding vaccination to choosing organic foods, and why.
Ranzi also talks about common pitfalls of raw food diets, such as relying too heavily on dried fruits (which harm the teeth) and nuts (which are high in fat and not necessary in large quantities).
When I began reading this book, my then-twelve-year-old daughter decided to begin eating raw. In the past, I might have worried about her protein intake, vitamin needs and other issues. Armed with Creating Healthy Children, I felt completely comfortable with her decision and was able to help her choose good foods and prepare simple recipes (Ranzi's recipes do tend to be very simple indeed since she advocates consuming whole fresh foods most of the time).
I highly recommend this book and plan to keep it in my personal collection. I am still not ready to switch to an all-raw diet, but I have been serving more salads, smoothies and fresh fruits for snacks and meals. Who knows what the future may hold.
January 8, 2020
5 star on info. Excellent info on how to keep kids healthy but 0 stats on organization. book seemed all over the place. I have to actually index it myself so i could refer to the contents without having to reread it again
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews